The Daily Mail reports on a critical soldier's letter in Soldier magazine:

The long-overdue memorial to the young men of the wartime Bomber Command will be dedicated and unveiled in the heart of London at midday on Thursday, 28th June, 2012.

Following a campaign, Defence Minister Andrew Robathan MP has confirmed in a parliamentary answer that the MoD has now agreed to a change in policy, allowing service personnel to use their service identity card as proof of age, and has written to the relevant trade associations encouraging their members to accept it.

As part of budget cuts the entire Ministry of Defence is to be dismantled and replaced by four soldiers of fortune sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit.

The Select Committee on the Armed Forces Bill has announced the publication today of its Special Report on the Armed Forces Bill. The Committee was tasked by the House of Commons to scrutinise the Bill which makes various changes to existing Military Law.

Repatriation ceremonies for those killed in operational theatres will move to RAF Brize Norton by 1 September 2011 the Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox has announced today as expected. Fuller details from the Ministry of Defence:

The House of Commons Defence Committee has announced a short inquiry into the work of the Service Complaints Commissioner. Before taking evidence in the Autumn from the Service Complaints Commissioner, Dr Susan Atkins, the Committee has invited written submissions from interested individuals and organisations, which must be submitted by Friday 7 September 2012. UPDATE: Written evidence was duly submitted on BAFF's behalf, and will be published in due course.

(UKPA News) The Duchess of Cornwall has met chaplains deploying to Afghanistan during a visit to the Royal Naval Chaplaincy Service annual conference:

The Guardian reports that the British Forces Broadcasting Service, for years a lifeline for members of the armed forces and their families, is to be put out to tender to competitive bidders. The report continues:

The Royal Navy is dangerously weak, risking the "silent principles" of the UK's national security unless the future fleet is restored and adequately sized, according to a new article in the latest Journal of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). The article claims that Britain needs at least 10 more frigates, and that ships in the current fleet were nearing the end of their useful life.

General Sir Richard Dannatt's autobiography is entitled "Leading from the Front" but it also might equally be called "The Enemy Within". The autobiography is to be published on 16/9/10 and is being serialised in The Sunday Telegraph. The paper's Defence Correspondent Sean Rayment writes that:

Children and young people's rights groups are calling for a change in the law to end the recruitment of 16 and 17-year-olds into the UK armed forces. Their call comes ahead of the second reading of the Armed Forces Bill, which the Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, will present to the House of Commons tomorrow (10 January). More from the Ekklesia think tank:

In further reporting of Defence Secretary Liam Fox's speech today (13 Aug 2010), the FT says that "Britain's military top brass is to be thinned out for the first time since the end of the cold war as ministers rebalance services that are more top-heavy with officers than at any time in the 20th century":

The House of Commons Library has produced a useful note on recent developments affecting inquests and fatal accident inquiries (Scotland) into the deaths of service personnel.

The move is part of efforts to "decentralise" the Ministry of Defence to make it more efficient and effective. He will say that "We need to review all our current practices to ensure that we are using our greatest asset - our people - to the best of their ability."

The Ministry of Defence stands accused of "politicising" the military covenant, under plans in the Armed Forces Bill to scrap an independent review of the Government's progress in honouring the nation's pact with servicemen and women. According to an Independent on Sunday report:

In further reporting linked to the Strategic Defence and Security Review, The Daily Telegraph says (7 Aug 2010) that ministers and officials plan to scrap large parts of the Armed Forces.

If implemented, the cuts will mean that Britain will almost certainly depart the world stage as a major military power and become what military chiefs call a "medium-scale player".

The new Armed Forces Bill has been presented in Parliament, without any debate today. It is excitingly described as a "Bill to continue the Armed Forces Act 2006; to amend that Act and other enactments relating to the armed forces and the Ministry of Defence Police; to amend the Visiting Forces Act 1952; to enable judge advocates to sit in civilian courts; to repeal the Naval Medical Compassionate Fund Act 1915; and for connected purposes."

The Press & Journal reports (16 July 2010) on further SNP-led speculation about the future of Scottish units and bases under the ongoing Strategic Defence and Security Review. The latest speculation concerns the future of The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (4 SCOTS) and The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (5 SCOTS). In their present form, these two battalions were created in 2006 under the Restructuring of the Infantry, which was intended to improve stability for Scottish infantry personnel and their families.

From The Times, February 15, 2010, by Fiona Hamilton

The British National Party was last night accused of plumbing new depths after it hijacked an online campaign to celebrate an amputee soldier’s birthday. Military officials described the political stunt as shameful and condemned the far-Right party for exploiting the predicament of wounded soldiers.

A Fijian citizen who was seriously injured in Iraq in 2005, and was diagnosed with PTSD after a further tour but reportedly received no treatment for it, is now threatened with deportation from the United Kingdom.

Geoff Hoon 'denied Iraq soldiers equipment that could have saved lives''

Tories demand that Chilcot inquiry establishes whether then defence secretary delayed ordering body armour.

The government was accused last night of denying British soldiers vital equipment that could have saved their lives in Iraq as a bitter party political row threatened to engulf the Chilcot inquiry into the war.

Two days before Geoff Hoon, the former defence secretary, prepares to give evidence to the inquiry, the Conservatives are demanding that it establish the truth behind claims that Hoon delayed ordering enhanced body armour shortly before the invasion because ministers did not want to alert the public to their preparations and stoke opposition to war.

• Full story from The Observer, 17 January 2010

Irreverent military bullshit website, the Army Rumour Service - ARRSE for short - has now produced what is laughably described as an insider's guide to the British Army. Author Major Des Astor is described by his own literary agent as "one of the most extensively passed-over officers in British military history". Astor told British Forces News what readers could expect. Update: This fine training pamphlet is now available in Kindle format, as well as in handy wipeable hardback.

The Military Covenant is a term introduced into British public life to refer to the mutual obligations between the nation and its Armed Forces. The idea of a psychological contract between the nation and the serviceman is not new, but the term was coined with the publication by the Ministry of Defence of the booklet ‘Soldiering – The Military Covenant’ in April 2000, and has now entered political discourse as a way of measuring whether the government and society at large have kept to their obligations to support members of the armed forces.  The covenant has now been enshrined in the Armed Forces Act 2011 as the "Service Covenant", applicable to all three services.

The Welsh Affairs Committee of the House of Commons has announced a new inquiry into support for armed forces veterans and their families in Wales. The Committee has asked for written submissions by Monday 12 September. BAFF members and supporters who have something to contribute to the inquiry are encouraged to submit their own submissions - BAFF assistance available on request. If there are issues on which you would like BAFF itself to submit written evidence, please contact us as soon as possible.

A Ministry of Defence study found that 44.9 per cent were overweight and another 12.1 per cent were classed as obese or even heavier. According to The Daily Telegraph: